Luka Doncic Hosting Entire Lakers Team to 4-Day Slovenia Training Camp Draws Reactions – “LeBron Would Never”

Luka Doncic and the heavily retooled Los Angeles Lakers have to find their rhythm early in the regular season if they are to compete for a title.

Luka Doncic Hosting Entire Lakers Team to 4-Day Slovenia Training Camp Draws Reactions – “LeBron Would Never”

Luka Doncic is now the Lakers' alpha (Image via FirstSportz)

After LeBron James left the Los Angeles Lakers, there was no doubt that Luka Doncic was now the team’s alpha. After all, he is their best scorer, playmaker, and superstar. Therefore, such a moniker made sense.

Back when he was on the Dallas Mavericks, he had Kyrie Irving to lean on when it came to team leadership. When James was still wearing the purple and gold, he helped the Slovenian find his feet and eventually become one of the leading voices in the locker room.

Now, the team does not have an established veteran after Marcus Smart also departed in free agency. Naturally, the team will now lean into whatever the six-time All-NBA first-teamer says, and his leadership has started in the offseason.

Luka Doncic is hosting the entire Los Angeles Lakers roster in Slovenia for a four-day minicamp in August, a source close to the Lakers told ESPN. The itinerary will include workouts, golf, and some Ljubljana tourism and bonding ahead of training camp.

Dave McMenamin revealed on X

This means that the 27-year-old is doing what he can to build chemistry with a team that was massively retooled during this offseason. Last year, their chemistry helped the Lakers win a lot of games in March, which saw them finish 4th in the West.

This season, their lack of camaraderie could be their undoing. Their conference rivals are one step ahead and could leave them trailing if Luka Doncic and his teammates do not start playing as a unit.

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Fans praise Luka Doncic while criticizing LeBron James

As soon as this news came out, reactions were basically split into two parts. One set of fans praised Luka Doncic for showing his leadership in bringing the team close before the next season starts.

On the other hand, there were those who took this opportunity to criticize LeBron James for never doing something like this. Check out examples of those varied reactions below.

In the King’s defense, he had his own methods for bringing the team together, as evidenced by the countless stories from former players. But now, Lakers fans are in ‘blame LeBron James mode’ after he finally took a significant pay cut. But since he did that to sign for another team, their anger has seen no boundaries.

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Luka Doncic and Lakers are no longer the media’s darling

After LeBron James left the Lakers, the franchise enjoyed some media coverage when they signed and traded for players using the veteran’s now-vacant cap space. But after that, there have been no conversations about the team until this Luka Doncic story.

Austin Reaves, Jake LaRavia and Luka Doncic
Austin Reaves, Jake LaRavia and Luka Doncic (Image via SI/X)

Even after the 41-year-old decided to join the Philadelphia 76ers, the Lakers were not even talked about. That was a far cry from the times when Charles Barkley used to flame ESPN for continuously talking about them.

The reality is that ever since James announced his decision, the Sixers have been the media’s new darling. Therefore, it is clear by now that despite having Luka Doncic, a generational talent playing for the most marketable team in the league, the media is disinterested.

They are busy covering James and his new team, and will likely continue to do so until the Lakers force these media members to talk about them.

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